Skip to main content

Always Get A Car Accident Medical Evaluation

Car accidents can be frightening for a number of reasons. The experience itself can be traumatizing. They can lead to injuries.

But they can also lead to financial difficulties from those injuries.

You might think that if you’re not bleeding or if you don’t have broken bones, that you’re fine. But a car accident can cause several types of injuries, some of which may not be obvious right away.

Injuries might not always be obvious because:

For this reason, you should always get checked out after an accident. Let’s look a bit closer at these phenomena and the major financial reason you shouldn’t wait to get checked out.

A car accident can cause an adrenaline spike.

Car accidents, like any traumatic event, can initiate the body’s fight or flight response. What that means is that your adrenaline spikes, which can make you feel okay even if you’re not.

After all, if you have to flee or fight, focusing on injuries won’t help you survive.

Rarely is that a necessary consideration after a collision, but it doesn’t stop your body’s physiological response.

There are may risk factors for soft injuries, though, like whiplash. Those include anything from the nature of the accident to how much stress your neck muscles carry. More than 2 million people suffer from whiplash each year in the US alone.

Whiplash is one of those injuries that you might not feel right away because of adrenaline, and because of the second reason.

Soft injuries might not be symptomatic right away.

Even after your adrenaline has leveled out again, you still might not feel any pain. That’s because muscle pains and injuries to other soft tissues don’t always manifest right away.

If you go to the gym, you might feel tired after a grueling workout, but the muscle soreness will probably be at its worst two days after. Similarly, if you sprain your ankle, it might look okay at first, but a few hours after the sprain might produce significant swelling.

For collisions, you don’t want to wait until you feel the pain to get evaluated. You should get checked out even if you feel okay right after the accident.

There are several reasons for this. For one, if you do sprain something, you might be able to get ahead of the swelling by using ice packs. If you get an injury like whiplash, a heat pack might help.

Insurance companies expect you to be proactive.

If you’re injured in an accident and you go to the doctor two weeks later complaining of pains, how does an insurer know that those pains are directly related to the accident?

They don’t. For that reason, they might delay or even worse–deny your claim for medical coverage.

That could put a financial burden on you that will only be an insult to injury.

If you’ve been in an accident and haven’t been evaluated, or if you have more questions about collision-related injuries, please contact us right away.

You Might Also Enjoy...

3 Surprising Triggers of Sciatica

Your nerves are vital to relaying information throughout your body, and when problems with them arise you can end up with painful problems like sciatica. This illness can be caused by triggers that may surprise you.

Grade 1 Ankle Sprain: How Soon Can I Play Sports?

Athletes are no stranger to getting injured, but some can be worse than others, and may take longer to heal. Ankle sprains are a common injury, but how long does it take to recover from it and get back in the game?

How Is Dry Needling Different from Acupuncture?

Modern medicine seems almost miraculous for the things we can treat, but many doctors still use traditional methods to help patients like acupuncture. But how is it different from modern dry needling treatments? How do both help?

How to Lower Your Risk for Chronic Knee Pain

Knee pain is a reality for millions of people whether you’re highly active or just moving around the house. Chronic knee pain can stem from a number of things affecting joints and bones, and here’s what you can do to avoid it.

What to Expect During Myofascial Release

If you’re dealing with pain in your muscles, it can be due to trigger points in a condition called myofascial pain syndrome. Myofascial release therapy can help relieve the pain, and here’s what you can expect from the procedure.

6 Nonsurgical Treatments for Sciatica

Sciatica is a lower back condition that affects millions of people, causing pain and tingling anywhere along the sciatic nerve. There are many treatments designed to relieve symptoms, and we offer many non-surgical solutions.